For the Sake of Love
by Amestris-Exile
Summary: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! see inside for story. no summary. fiveshot series. pairings: InoXNeji. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

The alarm went off on Ino's bedside table at 5 am, as usual. She stretched and yawned, thinking of the dream she was just pulled out of. It was the same dream she had been having for a long while now, ever since she had that confrontation with Neji in the Forest… but it was too early to be thinking too deeply.

She sat up, and with a groan of pain from yesterday's training, pulled herself to her feet. _God, why couldn't Asuma-sensei give us the day off,_ she wondered to herself, _he practically killed us yesterday._ But she had no further time to dawdle on these thoughts, because she could already hear her mother yelling from the other room that Shikamaru and Chouji were waiting for her in the other room. This surprised her a great deal, seeing as Shikamaru was, on any other day, to be expected to show up about an hour late, under the alibi that his alarm was not working.

Ino chuckled to herself at this latest thought. _Faulty alarm, my foot. More like faulty priorities if you ask me._ She walked to her closet and got dressed, then left her room. The first thing she saw was a large amount of human filling her hallway just outside of her door. "CHOUJI!" she yelled, jumping back in surprise. "Don't I tell you every day to don't do that to me in the morning?" "Geez, sorry, Ino," he replied, although it was hard to tell through the mouthful of potato chips what he said anyway. Ino rolled her eyes, and scooped her hair up into a ponytail, letting a little bit in the front fall forward and onto her face. Her trademark hairstyle.

She followed Chouji as he maneuvered his large girth back down the hallway and into the main room of her house. She distinctly heard a mutter of "How troublesome…" from the doorway. She looked up and saw Shikamaru leaning against the doorway, his head back and his eyes closed. "Hmm… no improvement there, eh Shika-kun?" She crossed her arms and smiled, knowing what he would say even before he had time to reply. He sat up at the sound of his name, then looked at Ino and smiled back. "Nope, and don't plan on doing anything about it either. Anyway, I came to tell you that training is cancelled." Ino stared back in complete shock. "Please, let me explain. Apparently, on his way to the training grounds, Kurenai-sensei had a 'big announcement' for him…"

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. If it means we get a break, fine by me. I'll be with Chouji at the grill. See ya later Ino-chan." And with that he walked out the door, closely followed by Chouji. "Ooh boy, do I get barbeque?" she heard him mumble excitedly under his breath. She smiled, remembering how much he loved barbeque. All of a sudden, she remembered that Team Gai was training today. As she started walking outside, she stopped.

_Wait… why do I care about Team Gai..._ she thought to herself. She shook her head a little when she could come up with no answer. _Oh well… might as well go and watch them, seeing as I have nothing else to do today._ And with a sigh, she walked out into the village.


	2. Chapter 2

-1Ino smiled as the dawn came into view. She breathed in deeply, taking in everything around her. She hadn't felt this good in a long time. She walked into the village and realized just how serene things could be at 5 in the morning. Everything was still except for the occasional shinobi or kunoichi walking down the sidewalk. Only the grill was open, and Ino could already see Shikamaru and Chouji at a window booth, Chouji already energetically digging into a pile of meat the size of his head. She loked back into the street to see Konohamaru, a small but energetic boy, sprinting toward her. He stopped and doubled over, clutching his side and gasping for breath. Ino smiled at the small boy and bent down, a look of caring in her eyes. "Hey Konohamaru-chan, you ok?" _Poor thing... _she thought to herself, _He must have been running forever._ Konohamaru looked up and said between breaths, "A... Genin... boy... told me... to... find you... and... tell you... that he... wants you... to... meet him... at... your... training place." He stopped and let his breathing calm down before he continued. "I don't know his name, but he had white eyes. They were scary." Ino froze. _There's only one Genin boy with white eyes... Neji._ She thought to herself. _But why would he want to meet me at my training place?_ "Okay, thank you Konohamaru-chan." She patted him on the head and walked past him. He swatted at her hand with a grunt of disdain, then ran off. She walked toward an alley, then took a left onto a dirt path going into the woods. She walked for a bit, then came to a wooden brisge that ran above a river. As she walked across, she saw a tall figure on the bridge, obscured by the early morning mist. Not knowing who it was, she instictively pulled a kunai out of her holder on her leg. "Who are you?" she yelled into the mist. The figure chuckled and started walking toward her. "Put it away. You'll hurt yourself." Ino instantly recognized the voice of the prodigy boy Hyuuga Neji and relazed. She slipped the kunai back into the holster and walked toward him. As she got closer, she started to see him better. The same black hair, the same milk white eyes...but something was different. It took her a minute to realize, but he wasn't wearing his trademark glare. Instead, it was replaced with a... dare she say it... smile. If just a little one, it was there. She walked up to him and stared at the ground. "Um... Konohamaru sent for me. he said you..." "Wanted to meet you here, yes," he replied, not even waiting for her to finish her thought. He turned to the side of the bridge, resting his elbows on the guard rail and staring down into the water. Ino walked up to him cautiously, the did the same. They just stood there in silence for awhile, watching the fish swim in the water below. He moved toward her a bit, so that their shoulders were touching. Ino's heart started beating a little stronger, and she felt her face heat up a bit. _So this is why he wanted to meet me here..._ she thought to herself. She moved a bit closer to him, so that now their entire forearms were touching each other. Ino looked up at him and said, "I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time, but just haven't gotten the chance to..." But before she could finish what she was saying, Neji put his fingertips under her chin and pulled her into a kiss. They stood there for about 5 seconds, then pulled apart. "You don't have to say anything else," he said with a smile. She smiled back, then leaned forward and they kissed again, but this time he put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, then Neji pulled away, activating his byakugan and looking through the trees. "Lee and Gai are looking fo me. I have to go." He kissed her one more time, then jumped through the trees to find his sensei and teammate. Ino stood rooted to the spot, her mind reeling. She finally woke up out of her daze and walked back into the village.


	3. Chapter 3

-1The sun had start to touch the tops of the trees when Ino emerged from the wood. The bright sun hit her in the face and she had to step back into the shadow so her eyes could adjust. She squinted and shielded her eyes, feeling her head start to throb from the blast of light. Her eyes adjusted and she lowered her arm, only to be blindsided by a mass of pink. "G'morning Ino-chan!" Haruno Sakura was Ino's dearest friend on some days, and her worst enemy on others. But for now, she was her friend, even if she was kinda hyper. "S-Sakura... you're choking me..." Ino spluttered through Sakura's death grip. Sakura released her bear hug and stepped back with a big grin on her face. "Sorry about that. I know what happened back there..." she said in an annoying singsong voice, rocking back and forth on her feet and putting her hands behind her back. Ino turned red. "How do you know, Sakura-baka?" she glared back. "Because I saw you, Ino-pig," Sakura replied with a snarl. Well, there goes that day. "Fine," Ino replied, turning her back on Sakura. "Go on. See if I care." "Oh, I know how to tell..." Sakura replied with a sly grin. "Oh, Tenten-san..." she called out. Ino jumped and covered Sakura's mouth with her hand. "No, Sakura. Tenten CAN'T know. She can't know..." "I can't know what?" a voice said from behind the two. Ino jumped and turned around to see Tenten standing there, a curious look in her brown eyes. "Uh... um... nothing," Ino stuttered. "You can't know that... um... I accidentally saw Lee in the hot spring once," she blurted out. Tenten's eyebrows shot up into her hair. "Um... ew, Ino. Thanks for informing." She walked off with a scoff and Ino breathed a sigh of relief. "See what you almost did, Sakura-baka?" Sakura gave Ino an innocent, puppy-eyed look. "I didn't do no one no harm," she said slyly and walked off. "Oh and Ino," she called back, "Watch out. My mouth may just slip in the next couple of days if you're not careful..." And with that she walked up the street. _Shit, _Ino thought to herself. _What the hell and I supposed to do now? I can't train and play babysitter to her at the same time... what am I going to do? _


	4. Chapter 4

-1Ino's mind was reeling as she walked through the streets of Konoha aimlessly, not really focusing on what she was doing or where she was going. All she knew was she had to think of something, and think of something _quick._ She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Hinata, also wandering along aimlessly, walking straight toward her. Luckily, Ino looked up and swerved just in time to avoid a head-on collision. Hinata felt Ino slide past her and looked up shyly. "Oh... Ino-chan... I didn't see you there..." She tried to shrug away, but Ino grabbed her by the shoulder and looked her in the face. "Hey Hinata-sama,there's something I wanted to ask you. I don't know if you talk to Neji-kun anymore, but if you see him, could you tell him to meet me by the bridge at 9 tonight?" Hinata looked at the ground, then back at Ino. "Um... ok, I'll try to..." "Thanks, Hinata-sama. You're a pal," She hugged Hinata and left her standing on the sidewalk. Ino continued up the street, a big grin on her face. Suddenly she felt a grip on her shoulder and a sharp tug as she got dragged off the street into the bushes. She fell into the brush, feeling another person behind her. She turned around to see who it was, only to have her mouth covered by a hand. She looked up to find Tenten staring at her, her normally happy brown eyes filled with hatred. Ino shoved her hand away. "What the hell are you doing Tenten?" She just glared and snapped back, "I know about you and Neji." Ino frowned. "But you two never went out. Why do you care?" Tenten's eyes looked down to the ground and filled with tears. "Neji is the only one I ever loved. Let's face it, Ino-san, if he wants you, I've got no chance. Compared to you, I'm nothing in the looks department. You could have any guy you want. Me, not so much. I'm not a girl that stands out. You are. So I hope you have a happy ending. One of us has to." And as the tears started to roll down, Tenten sprang out of the bushes and tore off down the street. Ino sat there, feeling horrible. _I should have known,_ she thought to herself. _I know what it feels like to love and get nothing in return... I know what it's like to hurt that way..._


	5. Chapter 5

-1_don't let her get to you…_ino tried to tell herself as she sat, back at home, in her favorite armchair. _it's all mind games… yea, that's it. Just immature mind games…_ she shifted uncomfortably in her chair and tried to go back to the book she was reading. But it was all in vain… there was no getting her mind off the subject. She sat and stared at the wall for a while, feeling her stomach do backflips. "I can't take it," she muttered under her breath, more to herself than anyone else. After about 10 minutes, she stood up and walked back outside. She wandered through the street s of her village aimlessly as before, wondering what to do now. She was just passing Ichiraku Ramen Shop when she saw a flash of bright orange fly past her and dart into the ramen shop. It mush be _Naruto,_ she thought to herself. She started to walk toward the ramen shop when she saw him plop down by a certain girl… a certain Genin girl with brown hair pulled into two buns… Naruto was seated in a booth by the window, and who should be with him but Tenten. But this was a different Tenten from just a while ago… she was smiling, laughing… even flirting from what it looked like from Ino's vantage point. She tried to move a bit closer, but then realized that she was still in broad daylight. Ino moved as fast as she could to the alley running along the side of the ramen shop and peeked around the corner to hear their conversation. One advantage of being a Yamanaka girl was that eavesdropping came as naturally as bad luck. She heard Naruto as he awkwardly try to start a conversation between him and Tenten, and Ino jumped. _they must be on a date…_ she thought to herself.

"So Tenten… I heard you and Neji are training together nowadays…"

_Oooooo, bad move, dude, _ino said to herself.

"Why do you care? It's not like we're together anyway, so why do you ask?" she heard Tenten snap back.

"Uh… nothing, I was just curious…"

Stony silence. Then,

"Well, what happened between you and him? From what I heard, you used to like him a lot. Why did you stop?"

Again, stony silence.

"He… well, I… I guess we… I just… ugh."

She sighs.

"I guess we just grew apa--"

A prolonged silence.

Then…

The scraping of chairs on the ground.

Foot steps…

headed Ino's way.

Her heart started beating faster and her adrenaline started pumping. Quick as a flash, she jumped onto the roof of the neighboring building to watch them. Naruto was dragging Tenten by the hand down the alley

Next to the ramen shop. They stopped on the other side of the dumpster, just out of sight of passersby in the street. Ino watched from the roof top as Naruto faced Tenten and pinned her against the wall by her shoulders. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, soft at first, then harder as time progressed. Her arms went around his neck as they started to make out, her still pinned against the wall. His hands moved off her shoulders down to the snaps on her shirt and rested on them, threatening to undo them. She breathed in deeply and pushed herself closer to him, never letting go of the kiss. Naruto's hands started to fumble on the clasps as he tried to undo them, and Ino felt something start to crack under her foot.

The shingles under her feet had begun to give way.

Ino shifted sideways and watched as a chunk of brown roofing fell from where her foot had just been, down the roof, and into the alleyway. Ino heard the to break apart finally and look around. Quick as a flash, Ino leapt backward onto a railway and ducked down. She quietly crept down the walkway and down a set of stairs, leading to another alley. This particular alley led down to a side street that went straight to her house. Ino snuck silently down the darkening street and to her back fence. Her head was still reeling from what she has just witnessed. _And the nerve of her, attacking me like that… then going and doing that with Naruto… in broad daylight!_ she thought to herself. _What if she had been caught?_

Ino had jumped to climb over when a strong pair of hands seize her around the waist and pull her back down. She had turned around to protest when another pair of lips met hers. She closed her eyes and kissed back until the two broke apart. She opened her eyes to find a pair of milk white ones staring back into hers. Ino stood, stunned and out of breath, trying to say something for a good 3 minutes. "N-Neji…" was all she could say before he pulled her into her own house by her hand and shut the back door.


End file.
